Another building with a nice view...

Neighbour to the “Hôtel de la Marine” on Place de la Concorde (on which I recently posted), you can find what today is referred to as “Hôtel de Talleyrand”, built at about the same period, around 1770, according to the plans by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, who was the architect of Place de la Concorde – then called Place Louis XV – and, for a short while, Place de la Révolution.

The building was first referred to as “Hôtel de Saint-Florentin”, occupied 1767-77 by the count Saint-Florentin, one of Louis XV’s leading ministers, later marquis, duke. The interior was taken care of by another architect, J-G-T Chalgrin, later especially known for the Arch of Triumph.

The building changed hands, passed the revolutionary years… 

… and was 1812-38 the home of C-M de Talleyrand-Périgord, normally just referred to as Talleyrand, a leading French statesman, who got the title of prince and managed to serve, mostly as foreign minister, as well during Louis XVI, the Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe. His Paris home became a political and mundane centre. During different peace talks some of the visitors were the Russian Tsar Alexander I, the Prussian King Frederick William III, the Austrian Emperor Francis I, the Duke of Wellington…

  

1838, the building was bought by J-M de Rothschild and remained the property of the Rothschild family until 1950. During the WWII years, it was of course confiscated.

The US State Department rented the place 1948 and bought it two years later. The administration of the Marshall Plan worked here until 1952 under the Ambassador W.A. Harriman. Until 2008 this is where you found e.g. the cultural affairs and especially the consular services of the US Embassy, now installed in a parallel building in the opposite corner of Place de la Concorde as part of the large Embassy complex.

Here you can see the portraits of Saint-Florentin, Talleyrand, J-M de Rothschild and G.C.Marshall.

Important renovations until 2010, involving the World Monuments Fund and a number of donators, have transformed the building, still owned by the US State Department, now housing a law firm and especially the George C. Marshall Center reception rooms, which can be visited (by appointment).

Part of the interior is from the 18^th century, a lot was transformed by Talleyrand and the Rothschild family during the 19^th century, much has been brought back more or less to “how it was” by the recent renovation works.

Here is the OEEC (later OECD) / Marshall Plan major meeting room, today used for e.g. concerts… with a (today copy of) statue of Madame de Pompadour by J-P Pigalle.